Sword's of Rebellion - Part 2
by BlackxRosexWitch
Summary: Elibe is once again on the brink of war, but this time, it stems from Lycia and conflicts within. After Klein, Count of Reglay has given assistance to Roy of Pherae, it is feared to be too late. Will Pherae and Ostia finally fall?
1. Prologue: Reglay

The winds blew silently and beautifully; the sky blue, the sun fully risen and the air warm and temperate. Sitting on the edge of a stone fountain, was a girl of silver hair tied into low pigtails and hanging down past her waist. She wore a black and red dress, and a gray scarf draped over her chest. Boredly, she was resting her chin upon her hand and had her eyes closed, humming a soft, silent tune. Her free hand drumming rythimically against her leg, she shivered slightly as the wind blew against her cooly. But she continued as she was.

"Lady Sarisa, there you are."

The girl opened her soft, gray eyes and looked up at the speaker. It was a boy not much older than her. He had light, cleanly cut black hair, blue eyes and wore a long, priest's robe with a black sache over his shoulder.

"Oh, Richard," She whispered with a smile. The boy laughed warmly and extended his hand towards the young girl. Gladly, she took it, almost stumbling upon her tall, red heeled shoes. Richard felt the cold sting of the girl's silver rings on her delicate hand, but paid no mind to it and smiled again. Then, letting go akwardly, he turned around.

"Your father has summoned you, Mi'lady," Richard told her. He sounded like he was worried, but with a hint of excitement to his voice. And she knew exactly why. Nodding, she ran her fingers through one of the tails of her hair and grinned at her assistant.

"You don't need to treat me so formally, you know," Sarisa told him, almost in a soft giggle. But unbeknownst to her, he blushed slightly and began to walk away from her towards the palace gates.

"Y-Yes, Sarisa."

Rolling her eyes, Sarisa chased after him and into the castle.

Sighing heavily and drumming his fingers against the wooden arm of his throne. He felt bored, but he had to await in the throne room for longer yet. His blonde hair slicked back handsomely and his blue eyes peircing the blank space before him.

He sat up responsibly as the giant wooden doors across the chamber opened. The light poured in and a small army of soldiers marched inside. Four or five of them at least, there were two noble looking figures; The first, a moderately armoured man with bright red hair and a gold crested sword at his hilt, and a blank stare upon his face. The second, was a woman of the same general age. She had long, flowing violet hair and wore a long, red dress. She had a faint smile across her face as they approached the throne. The two walked closely together, and as they made their way half way across, Count Reglay rose from his throne and walked to meet them with his hand extended.

"Marquess Pherae," He smiled, finally meeting them. The Red-Haired man took the Count's hand and they shook in greeting. The woman smiled and bowed as the two men let go of each other, and she whispered,

"Lord Klein, it's a pleasure to see you once more,"

"Please, it's quite alright, Lady Lilina."

Roy offered his wife his hand and she took it, rising back to her feet. After exchanging a quick glance, they all turned to look back towards the door as they saw a young bishop fall through the open doors and onto the floor.

"Richard, what on earth?" Klein asked in amusement.

"I-I apologise, Mi'lord. It was Lady Sarisa, she pushed me through the doors, you see..." Richard brushed himself off and stood back on his feet. And as he did, Roy stared in shock as a girl of seventeen stepped through the doorway. Her long silver hair flowed beautifully and she smiled brightly. She walked forward, and beckoned for Richard to quicken his pace. He did, almost chasing after her.

"Lord Roy, Lady Lilina. This is my daughter, Sarisa," Klein told them, introducing them to her, "She...Dances..." He told them unhappily, "Incase it wasn't made obvious by her attire."

Lilina smiled brightly at the girl.

"You don't approve of her choices, Count Reglay?" Lilina asked curiously as she examined Sarisa.

"Of course not. She is my daughter, but my mother and father support it, and even adore it. So there isn't much that I can do about it."

"So, what did you call us as an audience for, Lord?" Roy asked, interupting the conversation. All of them looked towards each other.

"I needed a private audience in person with the two of you," Klein told them. Roy nodded in understandment and touched Lilina on the shoulder. Then, Count Reglay nodded over to his daughter and she grabbed Richard's sleeve and walked through the side door. Then, the party of three walked back over to the throne where Klein sat and began to speak.

On the outside of the door, Sarisa pressed her ear through the thin planked door and smiled hopefully.

"W-What are you doing, mi'lady?" Richard asked, worrisome. He didn't understand what exactly she was doing, but he was concerned beyond what he could comprehend.

"Ugh, what does it look like...?" Sarisa growled at him. He went to respond, but she quickly placed her hand over his mouth to silence him.

Richard looked at the girl curiously then asked her, "So what is it then?"

Taking her face off of the door, she looked at him mischeviously.

"Let's go, Richard," She told him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him after her.

"W-where?"

"To my room, you dummy," Sarisa told him, obviously getting quite annoyed with the Bishop. She gave another tug upon his sleeve and the boy sighed.

"Yes, mi'lady..."

The two walked through the cold stone hallway and up the spiraled stairs at the end of the hall. At the end of the staircase, Sarisa opened the wooden door at the end then turned to make sure her friend was still following her. When she was sure he was, she entered the room, and once he was inside, she closed the door. Richard began to look around nervously as Sarisa removed her scarf and put it down on her canopy bed. He began blushing again.

"Don't worry," Sarisa winked, going to the wardrobe on the far end of her room. She opened it and pulled out an unattractive brown dress with a hood. Then, smiling over at him, she pulled it over her head and tucked her hair underneath, pulling the hood up.

"What exactly do you intend to do...?" Richard asked her, sighing.

"We're going to Lycia, of course," Sarisa smiled again. Richard was surprised at how...common she looked. The dress was ratty and old, and he thought it almost suited her personality; one definately not fitted for the life of a noble. He shook his head and sighed.


	2. Chapter 1: Together

_ 6 Weeks later.._

The skies grew dark. It was almost midnight, but Castle Pherae was just in their sights. The small party had been travelling only a few weeks, and they were tired. But their leader, a tall, dark haired boy, knew they had to press forward. And so they did.

"Lord Dane," A tall, light haired boy asked, riding up on his mount. His face was cold and pressed, staring and watching the movement of lit up torches around the castle perimiter.

"There are patrols, possibly under the enemies control. Are you sure we should press forward like so?" The boy asked cautiously. But Dane nodded calmly.

"Zane, if we don't press forward, it may be too late. My grandfather is still within the castle, and we need to help him in any way able."

Zane nodded and felt his heart skip as his horse raised his ears in alarm. He could hear the rustling of footsteps nearby. Readying his lance, Dane stepped forward with extreme caution.

"Come out. Now."

Immediately, a hooded boy stepped infront of him. He pulled his hood off to reveal a boy; young, and with short brown hair. Around his belt was an iron sword, and his glare was cold and serious.

"Prince Dane of Ostia," The boy stared at Dane, who uncomfortably shifted the grip on his lance. The two stared at each other for a moment before the boy spoke again.

"If you have any hope of re-taking this castle, you will need my help. Patrols are all over the inside of the castle, and they're holding Lord Eliwood in the dungeons. We don't have alot of time,"

Zane stepped forward again and spoke.

"My Lord, if what this common theif says is true, than we need to hurry."

Dane nodded and looked around.

"Any ideas on how to sneak past the guards?" He asked quietly.

"if we wait long enough, we can easily sneak inside,"

"Good. I would rather no casualties. If we engage with them, it would be enough to attract more," Dane began, "Unless you can cut them down silently..." He whispered thoughtfully...The boy smiled cynically.

"Thy will shall be done, mi'lord..." The boy whispered, sneaking off.

Dane turned and looked to his companions. Zane, on his mighty steed, and behind him, a young green haired girl. She wore a long, yellow cape which she held wrapped around her front. She looked unhappy, but content.

"Diana," Dane whispered to the little girl, approaching her.

"Y-Yes, mi'lord?" She asked in a small, soft stutter.

"Are you sure you want to partake without your sister's guidance?" He asked, resting his hand on her shoulder in a brotherly fashion. The girl nodded her head violently and smiled awardly.

"O-of course! L-Lord Eliwood is in danger, so I want to help any way that I can," She told him with a striking amount of determination.

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"Very good," Dane nodded. He then looked up to Zane expectantly, then over towards Castle Pherae. A few of the torches went out, almost like a signal. Zane immediately turned and offered his hand to Diana and she took it, climbing onto the steed. Then the three rode forwards. All was mostly quiet except for the sounds of the steed's hooved against the hard, dirt ground.

They arrived at the entrance to the palace and the theif was already across, reeling down the drawbridge. After it crashed down to the ground, they rode across and to the castle entrance.

"So, When do you plan to tell us you're name, theif?" Zane asked coolly. The theif looked at him and smiled.

"Ziggy," He responded.

"Hurry up, you two!" Tsar growled in annoyance to the two myrmidons behind him. He could hear them bickering not far behind them, but he tried to ignore it and run faster. They were almost to the Castle. It was within running distance, and he could see torches going out systematically. Something was going on...

"Maia, shut up!" Makar yelled at his sister angrily.

"I was just saying~!" She yelled back. Tsar stopped and put his arm out, Makar running straight into it. Maia stopped.

"We're close," Tsar told them, "See that? Somebodies already infiltrating. All the torches are going out."

Both myrmidons looked to each other, than back to Tsar.

"Do you think that's...?" Maia asked, her voice shaking almost.

"Elesa and the other's circled around. Even it isn't them, we still have the power to take the castle back," Tsar told them directly. Makar nodded.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get moving then!" Makar growled anxiously.

Diana bent over, panting over the scorched corpse of one of her victims. She felt tears flow to her eyes, and she felt scared. Beside her, Dane thrust his lance, piercing the armour of an enemy soldier, then tied his weapon to his back and ran to the young girl.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, his voice full of honest concern.

"I-I'm alright..." She whispered. Then, with a sudden flash, Dane pulled a book from under his robe, spun quickly and Diana felt a gust fly past her and yet another soldier was knocked down instantly.

"L-Lord Dane!" Diana exclaimed in awe, "I didn't know you could-"

"Not right now, Diana, we need to press forward. Stay close to Zane, I'll be back soon!" He told her directly and ran down the stone hall. The main chamber was close, and he had no wish to have himself killed just yet, so he ran towards the once-secret dungeon entrance. He pulled his lance back off of his back and used it tear down the wooden door, then pushed himself through. On the other side, was a long corridor, which he knew led to a spiral staircase. He pushed his way through and down the short spiraled staircase. At the bottom, he was met with the charge of a steel lance, which he parried with his own. Then, diving over the enemies back, he peirced his armour like previously. He panted quickly then looked around.

It was quiet...Too quiet. He walked forward and looked through all the bars until he got to the end. In the back right cell...

Was a man...Old, with red hair streaked with gray...The man was leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. But Dane could see his shallow breathing and knew that he was still alive, if barely. He stopped, took a deep, fearful breath, then ran over to the fallen soldier and searched his body for the cell keys. After he found them, he was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Brother...?"

He looked up and saw a girl with short, red hair. Her eyes were a deep blue, a familliar, deep blue. The girl ran forward and embraced Dane tearfully. She hugged him tightly.

"Elesa..." Dane whispered, shaking. He felt as if he had seen a ghost. But then he remembered, and pushed her off.

"This isn't the time, Elesa. Follow me," He told her harshly.

She nodded and followed him back to the cell where the man lay. Then, pulling through the keys and trying them one at a time. And from what seemed to be a good coincidence, the man opened his eyes weakly...

"Elesa...Dane...Y-You're..." He began coughing violently. As soon as the gate opened, Elesa almost dove inside and embraced her grandfather tightly. With a weak smile, he let his head fall to its side.

"Grandfather...Eliwood...I'm so sorry..." Elesa told him sorrowfully. She felt her heart sinking and as if her head was going to explode. She looked over to her brother, who had kneeled down beside her. He held the old man by the hand.

"Go. You two...Liberate...My time is..."

"Grandfather, don't say this. You'll be alright," Dane told him almost demandingly. He looked to Elesa, who had tears streaming down her eyes.

"It's all my fault...Grandfather..." She lowered her head, and closed her eyes. After a moment, she felt her grandfather kiss the top of her head.

"Dane...In my pocket..."

Dane nodded and reached into his grandfather's pocket and found a small pendant. It had a small red stone in the center. So, assuming the best, he gave it to Elesa.

"I'll...I'll tell your grandfather...How well you turned out..." Eliwood closed his eyes and laid his head down on Elesa's shoulder. Expectantly, she looked over to her older brother, who shook his head in disapproval.

"We don't have time for a proper burial. We need to take back the castle before anything else," He told her, gently resting his arm underneath Eliwood's head. Carefully, he laid the man down on the stone floor and stood up.

"We'll come back for him later," he told his sister. Then, standing up, Elesa walked tied the necklace around her neck and she nodded.

Dane then untied his lance from his back once again and took his sister by the hand.

"Let's go," he told her.


	3. Chapter 2: Well and Unwell

Ziggy pulled the hood of his long, brown coat up over his face and stepped outside the tall, stone castle and onto the draw-bridge. It was becoming cold outside, and he could see his every breath against the dark, night sky. He closed his eyes and shuffled his hands through his pockets, feeling all the gold he pillaged from the castle treasury. "This should be enough," He whispered coolly. Then, pulling his hands out, he went to make a break for it. But as he reached the end of the wooden bridge, he heard a sound like the cracking of a loud, ferocious whip, followed by a flash and the scent of burnt grass.

"Where do you think you're going, theif?" Ziggy turned around, his face still hidden beneath his hood. He stared at the figure before him. His height close to his own, but wearing a long, darker brown robe as opposed to his lighter coloured one. Smiling cynically, Ziggy glared at the boy before him. He could hardly make out what the boy looked like in the darkness, but he recognised the voice like he recognised his own lockpick.

"It's been a long time, hasnt it..." He whispered. But it seemed the other had heard him. Because within seconds, the boy had dropped his tome and stood blankly and disbeleivingly.

"Y-You're..." The boy responded, his voice shaking. It was if he'd seen a ghost, and Zig had sword he'd gone pale as a white cloud in the sky.

"Who am I, James?" Zig laughed casually and smiled.

"Elesa, here. Follow me," Dane whispered carefully and instructively to his sister. She nodded and took his outstretched hand, then the two walked together up the winding staircase above.

"I...I'm sorry I left, brother..." She responded, feeling her throat tighten with tears of anguish and guilt, "It's all my fault." Dane stopped and dropped his sister's hand and turned to look at her. "I understand, Elesa. Don't beat yourself up over it."

But the girl felt herself shake as she tried to avoid her brother's cold, angry gaze. She felt him watching her every movement.

"Nobody blames you. And if you were here, you would be with grandfather in that dungeon. It's not your fault, so don't you ever say it is again. Understood?" Elesa nodded in response and took her brother by the hand again, then the two continued their ascent and reached the entrance to the castle's main level. As they reached the top of the stairs, Dane released his grip on his siblings hand and unhitched his javelin from his back. And with one swift, straight motion, the javelin peirced cleanly through the back of passing by soldier on the other side of the broken door. The man's body collapsed and Dane twisted the end of his weapon and tore it out of the corpse, then adjusted his grip and continued on his stared in horror as a small amount of blood dripped off the tip of her brother's javelin.

Readying her bow, she removed an arrow from her quiver and armed her bow. Then holding her hand on the string of her bow, ready, she stepped forward. And as she reached the main corridor, she flung her head backwards, narrowly missing an arrow that shot quickly towards her. After successfully dodging, she turned and shot her assailant, the arrow piercing the weak point on his neck. After checking to be sure the area was clear, she ran to retreive her arrow. once she got close enough, she tucked herself in and did a quick roll, then grabbed the end of her arrow and stoof up, pulling it free and re-arming her bow.

"Hey! Elesa!" The princess rose to her feet and swung around to face the speaker. Tsar stood several feet away, just a bit of a further run. And just a bit further past him, was the entrance to the main chamber, where she assumed was being held by the enemy. Tsar beckoned her over and turned to look down the adjoining corridor. When he was sure nobody was there, he spoke again.

"You're brother is in the throne room with the others. We need to make haste, Elesa."

The princess nodded in agreeance, but felt a twisting pain inside of her. Nearly choking, she ran down the corridor, one hand holding the ruby necklace that Eliwood had given her. Warm to the touch, she felt her heart beating faster and faster. The two of them reached the end of the corridor, the entrance to the throne room, when Elesa saw something that had made her trip, only to be caught once again, by her companion.

But what she saw made her choke with fear. Her brother was head on with a large, heavily armoured general. He was swinging his lance angrily at the enemy general. After Tsar helped her back onto her feet, she examined the throne room closely.

"Maia and Makar are out handling re-inforcements right now," Tsar told her, crossing his arms as a young girl, not much younger than Elesa ran over to them. She wore a long, pale yellow cape and had soft green hair, tied neatly into a ponytail in the back. And in her hand was a red book, tucked neatly beneath her elbow. "Lady Elesa!" She called out, stopping infront of the noble.

Elesa could see that her face had gone pale, and that her arms were shaking. The girl was barely holding onto her tome, and her eyes were darkened with fear. She was looking back and forth from Elesa to Tsar anxiously.

"P-please, help Dane...He'll hurt himself..." She whispered, still shaking.

"Diana, it's alright. Can you fight from a distance very well?" Elesa asked her. She turned her head and nodded to Tsar, who in response dawned his blade and charged over to assist Dane. Diana nodded nervously and untucked her fire tome and began to cast a spell, and seconds later a bolt of fire struck the general in the chest, knocking him backwards a good distance and into the throne. Then, with a single striking blow, dane impaled the general through the skull. Then collapsed to his knees, dropping his lance, he held his face and screamed. Tsar turned around, sheathed his blade and stared at Elesa. The girl came running as fast as she could, dropping her bow in the process. She stopped next to her older brother and got down on one knee, then rested her hand on his shoulder.

But he unexpectedly responded with a single, swift motion of violence. He swung his arm on the opposite side and Elesa felt a gust of wind hit her, knocking her onto her back. She tried to take a deep breath, but she couldn't find the strength to do so. She blinked then felt her vision blur slightly. But even so...She continued to watch as Tsar forced himself upon her brother, pinning him to the stone floor.

"Enough!" He yelled at the prince, breathing heavily.

"Let me go!" Dane screamed in response, struggling as much as he could. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body. But Tsar grabbed the prince by both wrists and held him up. "Look," he demanded angrily, "look what you did."

Dane stopped and stared at his sister, then closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out the different voices rushing through his head. He breathed in loudly a few times and the mercenary dropped him. But the boy did nothing. He fell on his hands and knees, holding the sides of his head again and crying. He felt his breath heating up, and his hands dropped off the side of his head. He looked up and around, to the faces of all the different people staring at him. Elesa, Diana, now even those two myrmidons that came to assist earlier. He double took again, then stopped. Elesa. His sister...His precious sister...She stared at him in horror, even shaking a little bit.

"Dane..." Elesa cried, choking yet again, "I know...It's okay..."


End file.
